The Smithery, Chatham Dockyard, Kent

A competition winning scheme to convert the historic Smithery into a museum to house the National Model Ship Collection. The works to and within the building, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, have been carried in two phases: firstly essential stabilisation works followed by the construction of repositories for the ship models together with permanent and temporary exhibition spaces. The stabilisation works involved an overhaul and repairs to the roofs and piled underpinning to the west elevation. The building encompasses a number of individual parts which were built and altered at different times and includes an impressive range of materials and construction details which is very unusual to find in a single building. The new buildings are heavy concrete, steel and blockwork structures designed to moderate the environment within the repositories with the minimum of mechanical assistance. Funding contributions were also made from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage.